The Akilla® Sleep Safety Educational Campaign is being structured to build a solid platform for promoting sleep safety education throughout New Zealand so that New Zealanders become aware of sleep safety information that they can use. Akilla® is about saving lives and educating New Zealanders on drowsy-driving to prevent crashes. To prevent drowsy-driving and its tragic consequences, New Zealanders need information on risk reduction strategies

Drowsy driving is the silent hidden killer that haunts the roads. It could be your life or someone close to you that's cut short or ruined by drowsy driving, if you or a fellow traveller falls asleep at the wheel or just aren't fully awake while driving.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) (U.S.) conservatively estimates that 100,000 police reported crashes are the direct result of drowsy driving each year. The Virginia Tech Transportation Institute study that they sponsored found that Driver Drowsiness was a contributing factor in 20% of all crashes.

The Auckland Car Crash Study on drowsy driving crashes was undertaken by the Faculty of Medicine & Health Science and the University of Auckland. This in-depth study involved interviewing Auckland Hospital patients and it was found that 19% of crashes involving hospitalization or death of a car occupant could be attributed to driver sleepiness, and specifically to driving while deprived of sleep, driving while feeling sleepy or driving between 2am and 5am'.

Driver Fatigue Kills more than drink

'If you think drink driving is the biggest killer on our roads, think again.
New research shows that obstinate drivers' refusal to acknowledge fatigue now poses a greater threat'